The Galactic Republic
The Republic, led by a Supreme Chancellor Wolf Aros, has a democratic government that has been able to sustain itself for over twenty-five thousand years. It is said that its complete history would "fill a thousand libraries". In its latest years, it has been plagued by dissent within the Senate, a war against extragalactic conquerers, and a large-scale conflict with the Sith Empire. Early Years "The Old Republic was the Republic of legend, greater than distance or time. No need to note where it was or whence it came, only to know that… it was the Republic." -''The Journal of the Whills'' The Republic was born with the signing of the Galactic Constitution 25,053 BBY, during the Unification Wars. During that time, the Humans and Duros, reverse-engineering the Force-based technologies of the Rakata, invented the hyperdrive, allowing Coruscant to become the capital of the Galactic Republic and would remain that way for twenty-five thousand years. The Republic was created by the Core Founders. Though history often recalls the Republic as peaceful, numerous galactic conflicts; such as the Hundred-Year Darkness, the Old Sith Wars, the Vultar Cataclysm, the Mandalorian Wars, the Jedi Civil War, the New Sith Wars, and the Clone Wars—occurred throughout its 25,034 year history. At first, the government on Coruscant wished for slow expansion, despite its promotion of hyperspace exploration. However, against the government's wishes, the membership of the Republic boomed for its first millennium of existence, mainly due to worlds wishing to join as protection against the Hutt Empire. For years, the Jedi Knights and the ancient armies and navies of the Republic defended against violence. Around 24,500 BBY, theFirst Great Schism occurred, after the Legions of Lettow were established by dissident Jedi who believed that true power was achieved not through passive meditation, as taught by their Jedi Masters, but through emotion. Using their training in the Force, the fallen Jedi amazed the Sith and elevated themselves to god-like status on nearby Ziost, becoming the rulers of the Sith people. As years passed, and interbreeding occurred between the fallen Jedi and the Sith, the term "Sith" came to mean not only the original inhabitants of Korriban and Ziost, but also their fallen Jedi masters. In 5,000 BBY, the Jedi and the Sith Empire clashed in the Great Hyperspace War. Many worlds were forever scarred in that battle, but the Jedi were able to repulse the invaders. After that, the Republic granted the Jedi land over a Force nexus: a sacred mountain on Coruscant. In 4,250 BBY, the Third Great Schism occurred, which involved fighting on Coruscant. The surviving Dark Jedi were forced to flee to the Vultar system, where they discovered ancient technology indicating that the system's worlds were artificial constructs, probably the creations of the mysterious Celestials who had also built theCorellian system. These Dark Jedi took over these machines, including the Cosmic Turbine, but could not control them, and soon destroyed the whole system and everything in them during the Vultar Cataclysm. In 4,019 BBY, four Jedi Masters (two Warrior Masters and two Sage Masters) established the ziggurat of the Jedi Temple over the Force nexus on Coruscant, which would stand for over four thousand years. The year 4,015 BBY saw the Great Droid Revolution on Coruscant, led by HK-01, who was eventually defeated by Arca Jeth and the Jedi. During the conflict, Arca Jeth discovered techniques for disabling machines through the use of the Force. Following those conflicts were those of the Old Sith Wars of c.4,000 BBY which almost destroyed the Republic. During the Great Sith War (4,000 BBY–3,996 BBY), the Sith Lords Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma, along with their Krath and Mandalorian allies, waged war on the Republic, causing devastation until they were defeated by the combined Jedi and Republic forces. Afterward, the Great Hunt(3,995–3,993 BBY) and the Cleansing of the Nine Houses occurred. These would be followed by the Mandalorian Wars (3,966—3,960 BBY). They were fought between Mandalorian forces hoping to expand their colonies beyond the Outer Rim Territories and the Galactic Republic, which feared further incursions. The Mandalorian Wars were a prelude to the more devastating Jedi Civil War (3,959 BBY–3,956 BBY). The Jedi Civil War, also known to some as the War of the Star Forge, was fought between the Republic and the Sith Empire under Darth Revan and Darth Malak. It was possibly the most destructive conflict of that entire era, with many worlds, including Taris, Dantooine, and Telos IV, being devastated by the Sith fleet. In 3,900 BBY, Queen Elsinore den Tasia of the Core World of Grizmallt sponsored an expansion fleet of three vessels—''Beneficent Tasia, ''Constant, and''Mother Vima''. This fleet was led by the Republic explorer Kwilaan, and would discover the planet Naboo. From 3,970 BBY –�3,670 BBY, the Kanz Disorders took place in the Kanz Sector. During that time, the Provisional Governor Myrial of Argazda seceded from the Republic and established a military regime throughout the Kanz Sector. During the conflict that followed, her military forces invaded planets that resisted her reign throughout the Kanz Sector, including Lorrd. She often enslaved their inhabitants, most notably the Lorrdians of Lorrd. The enslaved Lorrdians were forbidden by their masters from communicating with each other. As a result, they were forced to develop a system of subtle gestures, facial expressions, and body postures to talk to each other. This nonverbal form of communication would still be in use over four millennia later. After three centuries and the loss of over five billion lives, including those of some 500 million Lorrdians, the Kanz Disorders finally ended when Jedi/Republic efforts toppled the regime in 3,670 BBY. In 3,681 BBY, the Sith Empire returned to wage war against the Republic in the Great War. The War greatly weakened the Republic, culminating in the Sacking of Coruscant and the Treaty of Coruscant. In 2,000 BBY, the Republic once more faced the menace of the Sith, who had formed a Sith Empire that was far larger than any of its three predecessors. This time, the Jedi took the forefront of the war. The conflict fluctuated until the Battle of Mizra in 1,466 BBY, which saw one of the largest Sith victories in the entire war. The losses for the Republic were so catastrophic that a dark age began, with widespread social unrest and economic collapse. The Republic itself shrunk to a mere rump state surrounding the Core Worlds inner colonys and few other worlds out side it, with the Sith Empire encompassing virtually the rest of the entire galaxy. The Jedi took over absolute authority, ruling the remainder of the Republic directly. The Senate was bypassed, with sole governing power residing in the Jedi, while the Republic's armed forces were absorbed into the Jedi Army of Light. After nearly five hundred years of continued war, the Army of Light had beat back the Sith to the planet Ruusan. They were finally defeated in 1,000 BBY at the Eighth Battle of Ruusan, although almost all the forces of the Army of Light that were on Ruusan also perished. Following the battle, the Ruusan Reformation was enacted by Chancellor Tarsus Valorum. It returned power to the Senate, placed the Jedi under the authority of the Republic government, and disbanded the vast majority of its remaining military. At long last, with war after war, peace and prosperity came to the Republic. Yet with it came a dangerous complacency. Vast armies and navies were downscaled, and the Republic came to rely on the Jedi more and more for the maintenance of civility. Despite a few isolated flash points—like the Stark Hyperspace War and the Battle of Naboo—full-scale military conflict remained a distant memory. Nonetheless, remote planets theoretically under jurisdiction of the Republic hardly could find the technology that was commonly available near the Core.[2] Feeling little interest for those planets, the Republic did not even chart them properly or classify all of their flora and fauna.[3] The Clone Wars Traditionally, the Chancellor could only serve two four-year terms, but Palpatine stayed in office much longer, due to the prolonged Separatist Crisis. The crisis occurred when several of the Republic star systems and commercial organizations, fed up with the corruption and widespread capitalism in the Republic, united in order to separate from the Republic. This unified front became known as the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Tensions between the Republic and the Separatists eventually escalated into all-out war after a Jedi strike team came to Geonosis, which started the Battle of Geonosis—and the Clone Wars. The Senate granted Palpatine emergency powers to deal with the Separatist Confederacy in a motion introduced by the Naboo representative Jar Jar Binks. Palpatine's first move, widely supported at the time, was to create a vast army of clone warriors to serve as the Republic's fighting force against the Confederacy. The Republic had not previously needed an army, since until then any small conflicts within the Republic could be solved by recourse to the peacekeeping Jedi, or to local navies and militias. However, the fact that the Confederacy had access to an enormous army of droid soldiers required the Republic to construct a more formal federal military in order to effectively fight. However at least one enemy of the Republic managed to turn away from the CIS and ally itself with the galactic goverment, it was Jabba Desilijic Tiure's criminal empire, for rescuing their leader's son, secretly heald captive by the Separatists, thus the Republic had some advantage over the CIS during the war. Along with their allegiance with the Hutts, the Republic was allowed use of the Hutts' hyperspace lanes. In the ensuing years, the Senate increasingly gave more power to Palpatine, who became the war's political Commander-in-Chief. Such actions were justified in the name of security, and eventually Palpatine did not need the approval of the Senate for many of his actions. Since the Chancellor held the loyalties of a vast majority of supporters in the Senate, this was considered a perfectly reasonable way to increase the wartime government's efficiency. The citizens of the Galaxy, who had long since lost faith in the the corrupt and inefficient Republic itself, came to see Palpatine personally as their protector from the droid armies and their terrible commander, General Grievous. Democracy Lives On After it was discovered by the Jedi that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had been exploiting his emergency powers for his own personal gain as a Sith Lord, the people of the Republic demanded new, reliable leadership. An election would be held. Among the candidates was the young, charismatic Jedi, Wolf Aros. Reliable as he was, the prospect of having another Force-user as a leader was somewhat unnerving to the Republic. In the coming election however, Wolf would work harder than any other candidate, including Senator Amidala, and end up winning the Office. Thus, with it's first Jedi leader in thousands of years, the populace of the Republic hoped to finally bring an end to widespread conflict and unify the Galaxy under both Democracy and the Light Side of the Force. Unfortunately for the Galaxy, the era of what would come to be known as the Shadow War was not far off... -To Be Continued- Category:Major Powers Category:Big 3